[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 89 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2618-H2619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                          DEBT CEILING CRISIS

  (Ms. SEWELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. SEWELL. Madam Speaker, I rise to demand that Speaker McCarthy and 
my Republican colleagues in the House return so that we can pass a 
clean bill to prevent a devastating default.
  Let me be very clear. We, as Members of Congress, have a solemn 
obligation to pay our Nation's bills and to protect the full faith and 
credit of the United States.
  We have never defaulted on our debt, but this time, House Republicans 
are refusing to address the debt limit unless we cut serious programs 
that Alabama families that I represent need most, like veteran benefits 
and food assistance for our seniors and children.
  Madam Speaker, this is a manufactured crisis. Republicans could pass 
a clean debt ceiling bill but chose not to. We passed such a bill three 
times under the Trump administration.
  Today, Republicans have chosen to send us home instead of doing our 
job.

[[Page H2619]]

Our job is to protect the American people and to make sure that the 
full faith and credit of the American Government stands. It has never 
been in default and shouldn't be in default now. This is a dereliction 
of duty.

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